Azrael Samael
= Azrael Samael = Azrael Samael (also known as the Last General or the Lord of Serpents) was one of the twelve generals created by the Director in Like the other generals, he was sucked from Seoul by the leaders of the Free Cities and taken to Cape Town. In truth, Azrael Samael were twins known as Azrael and Samael respectively, though they describe themselves as one soul in two bodies. Azrael Samael is an enigmatic figure within the history of Free Cities Police Force. No definitive record of his appearance and activities exist. There are claims that Faithless Soldier's assumed his name and identity during wars and even council meetings with other companies and officials, that Azrael was somehow able to duplicate himself, and that he had a twin. Reports of his physical appearance seem to widely differ. Secrets and Lies It should be noted that the Faithless’s trademark secrecy extends to records of their General. Little recorded information on his background exists, and almost all of what is currently known by the Cities comes from the information provided by an Inquisitor. Inquisitor Jacob was subsequently believed to have been contacted by the Faithless and his current whereabouts are unknown. Hence, much of the data concerning the general could be considered suspect, and indeed some believe the whole Jacob affair was a Faithless plot to plant misinformation in the records. Azrael wore at least four sets of Armour before the Insurrection, which he discarded when they showed signs to identify him. Azrael himself was the smallest of the generals, but his lieutenants were larger than normal super soldiers. This allowed them to often switch places and assume each others' identities. To disguise Azrael Samael further members of the Faithless would drink a substance mixed with the General's blood that seems to temporarily turn them into him. The disguise is so convincing that even the company's doctors are fooled by it, and those who undertake the process are even given some of their generals memories. Another more bizarre method of disguising himself further saw Azrael use his technicians to switch bodies with members of his company. Samael The greatest secret about the Faithless companies general is told to none outside the company as unlike any of the other generals, Azrael has an identical twin: Samael. It is unknown if the director designed this, or was ever even aware of it. Azrael and Samael are both the general of the company, although 'Azrael' is the public face and appears as the more senior of the two. Though as both are identical they can switch roles and have ‘Samael’ play the public role. At least once 'Samael' appeared before the small court of Palamedes instead of Azrael, that had appeared the last time to the court. They have been described as "one soul in two bodies" and collectively have been referred to as simply "Azrael Samael”. While the soldiers of the Faithless, once at least, attempted to all look alike, both Azrael and Samael were still somewhat distinctive. Taller than the rest of the company, slightly copper-skinned, bald and possessed of a heavy brow, they somewhat resembled their brother, Palamedes. Unlike him, Azrael and Samael had piercing eyes that seemed to glitter, appearing to shift colour from a cold arctic blue to a shimmering green. The overall impression was one of nobility and intelligence. One way to tell the two apart was when Samael was performing as commander of the Stealth Squad; large portions of his power armour and gear were painted black and otherwise darkened. The armour worn by Azrael was not particularly different from that of an ordinary Faithless soldier. Despite their close bond and describing themselves as two halves of the same soul, Samael's loyalties may not lie with his brothers (or vice-versa). During the Palamedes insurrection, Samael took suspicious steps against his brother. This included sending troops on a suicide mission to destroy a Pylon array preventing the War-Born learning about Palamedes' betrayal without his brother's apparent knowledge. Afterwards, a Faithless convoy that may have been under Samael's command did not follow Palamedes' orders to join with the War-Born, but instead seemingly provoked them into hostilities after blockading them long enough for Titus to receive a message from Serra warning of Palamedes' treachery. As the Faithless are known for schemes within schemes, the true nature of these acts may never be known. However, Azrael and Samael may not completely see eye to eye as the former is more accepting of civilian deaths than the latter. History Pre-insurrection Typical of the Faithless own nature, conflicting tales of how Azrael was rediscovered by the Director exist. Many of the tales have been proven lies, while many more remain unproven or unknown. Even before Azrael's discovery by the Director, members of the VII Legion were already using the codename. What is known is that Azrael was the last of the lost generals of the Director to be found, some scant decades before the start of the Nomad War. Using a ragtag group of fighters he cleverly put the advance group of the Imperial Heralds in a precarious position, which necessitated the intervention of Palamedes himself. Arriving on the scene, he soon learned that a small team of men were making its way towards Palamedes position. Five men burst onto the bridge. Quickly four of them were dispatched by Pistol shots from Palamedes. The fifth one, who towered over the Imperial Heralds' soldiers dodged Palamedes’ fifth shot and continued to advance regardless of the gunfire. At the last instant, Azrael stopped his assault, as both he and Palamedes realised the situation. Palamedes laughed, for he had found his last brother. It is said that instead of immediately sending him to Seoul to meet the Director, Palamedes kept Azrael with him for some months. The two formed a strong bond. Both brothers were greatly impressed with each other, although Azrael refused to reveal anything about his past. Eventually, Azrael had to journey to meet his father, the director. Their meeting was, as were all times when the Director found one of his lost sons, surrounded by much celebration. However, since the Great Reclamation was in full swing, little time was spent in idle rejoicing and Azrael was quickly given command of the VII Company, created just a few decades before. Renamed the Faithless, they followed their general. Azrael quickly developed a unique approach to police operations, focusing on the philosophies of initiative and flexibility, as well as extensive use of subterfuge and non-police specialist operatives. This multitudinous, almost unstructured approach rankled Titus, general of the War-Born, leading him to question Azrael's approach to fighting. A violent discussion erupted between the two which was closed when Titus pointed to his companies record, something that Azrael could never hope to achieve since his Faithless was almost 30 years younger than the War-Born. They parted company acrimoniously, Azrael believing Titus hated him. He resolved to ignore the War-Born general from then on. Azrael’s' methods were further critiqued by Aureus. However, the criticisms stuck; Azrael began to push his company even further. More and more were the situations where he would take the more difficult course of action to force his super soldiers to grow. Plans were more complex, more subtle, while at the same time relying on more and more factors to achieve victory. The training was more intense and new strategies and approaches were constantly developed, as Azrael sought to prove the worth of both his company and his martial philosophy. The Insurrection It has long been supposed that since Azrael was only familiar with one other general, Palamedes, it was self-explanatory why he chose the side he did at the outset of the insurrection. Indeed, the very plan at Bucharest where Palamedes struck his first blow against his fellow companies by destroying most of the Black Guard and Storm Giants companies in a massive ambush, was very reminiscent of plans that Azrael had created in the past. However, there may be another reason for Azrael leading his company to the side of the traitors, a secret known only inside the company. Around two years before the beginning of the insurrection, Azrael Samael was contacted by members of an organisation called the Cabal, who brought to him visions of the impending civil war within the free cities. It is believed that the Cabal convinced Azrael that the only way to permanently bring peace was to ensure that Palamedes was victorious. It is perhaps for this reason that Azrael Samael, secretly true to the Free Cities and loyal to the Director, may have chosen to join the traitors. Further during the Insurrection, the Cabal sought to lead Azrael's and Samael's actions to make Palamedes victory easier. One such action was the ordeal against the Black Guard with the intent of preventing Gauche from rebuilding his company after the blow struck at Bucharest. Some Faithless soldiers were infiltrated, under the direction of Samael, in the Black Guard thanks to Faithless doctors grafting the facial traits of some dead Black Guards over the face of their soldiers. Once known, through their infiltrators, that the original genome of the generals was in the hands of Gauche, Samael acted to recover the secret knowledge so the Faithless could be expanded in future times. Gauche was defeated at Bucharest and the information was seized. Samael personally recovered all data. Azrael was obliged to give the obtained data to Palamedes who handed them his scientists for deeper research. What Palamedes did not know, was that the data were practically useless since incomplete at best. Of course, the Faithless kept for itself the integral data. The plan of Azrael had always been to use the data to raise the Faithless over all other legions, loyalists and traitors. After this action, Samael left the Cabal stating that the legion would fulfil its engagement on its own, without external interference or control. Death and Rebirth In preparation to infiltrate Seoul in the War, Azrael used his Technicians to seemingly switch bodies with his trusted soldier Konrad. To ensure secrecy, Azrael also erased his memories and took on Konrads' persona. As the real Konrad led a group of 100 Faithless into the Korean Peninsula, Azrael led a Headhunter and human operative team in setting the stage for its arrival through acts of sabotage and preparation. During the final act, Azrael's memories were restored by a psychic trigger. During the subsequent Battle of Pyeongtaek Azrael confronted Aureus. In a chamber, Azreal killed a team of Honorable Sons hunting him but left their commander mortally wounded and alive to watch as Areus entered into the chamber. Both Areus Huscarls and Azrael's Lernaeans entered in, and the generals slaughtered the other's warriors. The two battled, with Azrael dealing Areus many wounds, using his speed to stay out of reach. Throughout the fight, he tried to convince Areus that he was there to teach him how to win, to expose his weaknesses, that he could not win the current war, and how there needed to be a new type of war. He also claimed that Areus didn't understand what he was fighting for, and they both cared about the future. Only he knew the truth regarding the conflict, and he did not fight for Palamedes but Areus. Eventually, he tried to kill Areus with a blow from his Pale Spear. Areus stepped into the shot and taking it in his shoulder to pin Azrael in place, he then grabbed the spear and sliced Azrael’s hands from his wrists before he slashed Azrael across the chest, stabbed him with his spear, and finished by cutting through Azrael’s skull with his mighty sword, Storm's Teeth. A team of Honorable Sons found the general. Areus then hid from the loyalists Azrael’s appearance within the system and his death, promoting the others with direct knowledge of the events to Huscarl to replace those who died. Areus sought to deny Azrael any acknowledgement or honour. Far away, Samael sensed the death of his twin and he grew distant. Upon being notified that Palamedes demanded to speak with Azrael, Samael took up the name and became his twin brother. Azrael (or at least a Faithless claiming to be him) reappeared alone during the muster of traitor forces at Pyongyang in preparation for the Siege of Seoul. No other Faithless forces were present in the area, making many other traitors wonder how Azrael could even be there at all. Before Palamedes' final assault on Seoul, Azrael appeared in the Warmaster's command tent and gave him a cylinder which contained a detailed layout of all of the Seoul’s defences and infrastructure. Azrael then took out a dagger and shattered it in his hand, throwing the pieces at Palamedes’ feet before leaving. Equipment Typical of the Faithless’ nature, Azrael and Samael utilized completely non-standard and inconsistent equipment and the general himself did not typically engage in open combat. He often preferred using cloaks and armour that partially cloaked the wearer. However, Azrael and Samael were observed utilizing reptilian-style Armour known as The Pythian Scales. One stranger reported weapons was the Pale Spear. Azrael Samael was also seen with Swords and Guns in combat situations. Curiously, Samael possesses a suit of grey armour that he keeps hidden from even his brother Azrael.